Method and system for improving enterprise performance

ABSTRACT

The performance of an enterprise including at least one agent is improved using a closed-loop continuous performance method and system. Interactions between the agent and the user are captured, and captured interactions that satisfy predetermined business criteria are recorded. The performance of the agent and the enterprise is evaluated based on the recorded interactions. Other data concerning the agent and the enterprise is analyzed, and training is delivered to the agent based upon the results of the evaluating and analyzing steps, thereby improving the performance of the enterprise.

BACKGROUND

[0001] The present invention is directed to a method and system forimproving enterprise performance. More particularly, the presentinvention is directed to a method and system for improving performanceof an enterprise including at least one agent interacting with a user.

[0002] As enterprises grow, it is important to keep track ofinteractions between agents of the enterprise and other parties. Forexample, as businesses grow, it is important to keep track of customerservice contacts.

[0003] The customer interaction center is where current and potentialcustomer's experience first-hand an enterprise's services, produce, andbrand. Quality of service provided by the customer servicerepresentatives is an important factor in determining the success of abusiness.

[0004] Today, collaboration across the entire enterprise is becomingcritical to building and optimizing customer relationships. Withoutstrong collaboration, these relationships may be weakened, and there isa strong risk that customers will move on to the competition.

[0005] There is thus a need for a method and system for distributinginformation representing customer interactions throughout an enterprise.There is also a need for targeting training to agents, based on thisinformation, to improve the transactions between agents and otherparties.

SUMMARY

[0006] The present invention is directed a method and system forimproving performance of an enterprise including at least one agent,such as a customer service agent, that interacts with at least one user,such as a customer.

[0007] According to exemplary embodiments, interactions between theagent and the user are captured, and captured interactions that satisfypredetermined business criteria are recorded. Interactions that satisfypredetermined business criteria may include, for example, interactionsthat result in a sale greater than a predetermined number of dollars ora sale of a particular product, last longer than a predetermined periodof time, involve a particular agent, are from a particular callingparty, are to a particular number, or are of a predetermined priority.

[0008] According to one embodiment, only the selected capturedinteractions are recorded. According to another embodiment, all of thecaptured interactions are recorded, and the interactions that do notsatisfy the predetermined business rules are discarded.

[0009] The performance of the agent and the enterprise is evaluatedbased on the recorded interactions. Other data concerning the agent andthe enterprise is analyzed, including, for example, historical andstatistical data concerning the agent and the enterprise. Targetedtraining is delivered to the agent based upon the results of theevaluating and analyzing steps, thereby improving the performance of theenterprise

[0010] According to one embodiment, the recorded interactions may bedistributed throughout the enterprise for evaluation. For example, therecorded interactions may be distributed to customer service, businessdevelopment, support, and marketing groups within the enterprise forevaluation. The recorded interactions may also be distributed outsidethe enterprise for evaluation. The recorded interactions may includeweb, e-mail, telephone, order entry, customer relationship management,customer business applications, voice commerce, kiosk, self-serviceand/or interactive voice response exchanges.

[0011] According to one embodiment, the interactions that satisfypredetermined business criteria are automatically recorded. In anotherembodiment, the agent initiates recording of the interactions. Accordingto yet another embodiment, recording is initiated by a third party.

[0012] Further objects, advantages and features of the present inventionwill become more apparent when reference is made to the followingdescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013]FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary closed-loop method according to anexemplary embodiment; and

[0014]FIG. 2A illustrates an exemplary system for selectively recordinginteractions according to an exemplary embodiment;

[0015]FIG. 2B illustrates an exemplary system for evaluating recordedinteractions according to exemplary embodiments;

[0016]FIG. 2C illustrates an exemplary system for analyzing overallperformance according to exemplary embodiment; and

[0017]FIG. 2D illustrates an exemplary system for training according toan exemplary embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0018] According to exemplary embodiments, a closed-loop continuousperformance improvement process allows for the rules-based recording ofcustomer interactions across all channels (e.g., web, email, telephone),the evaluating of agent performance, the analysis of overall performancemetrics, and the prioritization and delivery of targeted training basedupon the evaluations and analysis.

[0019]FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary closed loop system for continuallyimproving performance of an enterprise, such as a customer contactcenter including at least one agent communicating with customers. Asshown in FIG. 1, transmitted multimedia data is selectively recorded atstep 100 based upon certain business-driven rules. The multimedia datamay include, for example, voice, data, e-mail, web, fax, integratedvoice response (IVR data), etc.

[0020] The multimedia data may correspond to interactions between acustomer service representative at a company and an end user. Forexample, a transmission may include e-mail communications or web pagesthat are sent back and forth between an end user seeking assistance fromthe customer service department of a company.

[0021] The selectively recorded multimedia data is then evaluated atstep 125 and analyzed along with other data at step 150 by, for example,the person responsible for supervising the customer service agent. If itturns out through the analysis that the customer service agent is notdoing an effective job in a certain area (e.g., the customer serviceagent is not adequately answering the customer's questions), then alearning management system may be automatically initiated at step 175,whereby the customer service agent is temporarily relieved of his/herduties in answering questions from customers, and a tutorial pops up onthe agent's computer screen. The tutorial may be directed to the areawhere the agent needs additional training.

[0022]FIG. 2A illustrates an exemplary system for selectively recordinginteractions. The system includes a server 200 that collects data frominteractions between agents and customers. The interactions occur via anetwork 210. Third party applications for sending or receiving data tothe server communicate via a multimedia contact interface 220. The usersmay include users communicating via user interfaces 240 which mayinclude a data voice private branch exchange/automatic call device(PBX/ACD) 245, an order entry 250, e-mail 255, web 260, customerrelationship management (CRM) 265, customer business applications 270,or other user interfaces. Agents communicate via agent interfaces 300,which may include, e.g., telephone and computer terminals.

[0023] According to an exemplary embodiment, only captured data thatsatisfies predetermined business rules is recorded. Thus, the server 200collects data selected from the interactions over the network 210 thatsatisfies predetermined business rules. According to an exemplaryembodiment, captured attributes and content are analyzed in, forexample, a Business Rule Engine (BRE) at the server 200, to determinewhether they satisfy predetermined business rules. Data that satisfiesthese rules may be recorded in a database 230. A user may be notified ofcustomer contact center transactions.

[0024] According to another embodiment, all captured data may berecorded, and the data that does not satisfy predetermined businessrules may be discarded. This ensures that the entire interaction iscaptured. If the storage capacity is large enough, this can, in effect,capture interactions in the past.

[0025] The terminology “business rules” has a commonly accepted meaningin the art and in this context refers to business elements forcomparison with captured data in real time. Examples of comparison ofcaptured data with business rules include determining whether aninteraction resulted in a sale greater than a predetermined number ofdollars, determining whether an interaction lasted longer than apredetermined number of minutes, etc. Business rule comparison may bemade active or inactive on a defined schedule.

[0026] According to an exemplary embodiment, recording call centertransactions may begin with an end-user identifying all of the contactmediums and the associated attributes that they are interested inanalyzing or recording. Then, the user establishes rules that areevaluated by the BRE. When activated, the system begins recording theattributes and caching the content of all transactions that an end-useridentified. Simultaneously, the BRE processes thousands of events thatcontain the attributes that have been identified by the end-user. TheBRE evaluates these attributes against the defined rules and determineswhether or not the cached content should be stored in the contentrepository. Also, the BRE notifies the appropriate personnel via page,email, or voicemail. The repository contains the attributes of alltransactions that were analyzed as well as the content of thosetransactions that met certain business rule criteria.

[0027] According to another embodiment, data may be captured bycapturing only changed areas of an agent's screen to minimize networkutilization. This is described in more detail in commonly assigned U.S.Pat. No. 5,790,798, incorporated herein by reference.

[0028] According to another embodiment, random agent and eventmonitoring is provided in which a percent of sample size of contacts isautomatically monitored and recorded for future playback. Livemonitoring is also provided, in which monitoring for both voice and dataor real-time contact may be initiated, and these contacts may then berecorded. For this purpose, a list of agents and their status may bedisplayed. If an agent, e.g., a customer service representative (CSR),is on a call, the Dialed Number Identification Service (DNIS) number,which is the internal representation of an 800 number, may also bedisplayed if available. For example, if a customer calls 1-800FLOWERS,the call center will assign a number like “341768” as the DNIS. Thenwhen an agent gets the call, the agent may see this DNIS on the screenand know that the caller called 1-800-FLOWERS.

[0029] According to another embodiment, agents 300 may also initiaterecording of real-time contacts, e.g., when there is a serious complaintor customer feedback about a new product or service is being provide bya customer. Agents may also disable monitoring for a particular call forvarious purposes, e.g., if a customer requests it for legal purposes.

[0030] After-call monitoring may also be provided, by which an agent'sscreen actions after the contact ends are monitored or recorded. Forexample, an agent may wait until after the customer hangs up to enterinformation that could have been entered during a call. This type ofsituation offers an excellent training opportunity. Agents may bemonitored from any point, based, e.g., on login information from theswitch.

[0031] Also, customer transactions may be documented and retained bycapturing the customer's verbal authorization. This voice signaturecapability simplifies the sale process and reduces costs by leveragingverbal rather than written authorization for certain types oftransactions, such as consumer debits authorized over the telephone.

[0032] According to exemplary embodiment, recorded interactions may beplaced into a designated folder for easy access, retrieval and replay.The entire interaction may be retained, whether the business rule istriggered prior to the contact, e.g., for automatic numberidentification (ANI), DNIS, or agent ID, during the contact, e.g.,according to priority, a product request, or a completed sale, or at theend of the interaction, based e.g., on the length of contact. Thefolders may be maintained by agents, e.g., customer servicerepresentatives, and managers. Contact folders may be made available fortraining (coaching), marketing (campaign results) and engineering(product feedback).

[0033] Certain people or groups may be notified via, e.g., e-mail, pageror mobile device when they should evaluate a critical customerinteraction.

[0034] After recording takes place, end-users may create custom forms tobe used in the evaluation of recorded interactions. These forms are thenused to evaluate and score each interaction based upon the appropriatecriteria identified by the end-user. The scored evaluations are thenused as a component of the agent overall performance measurement.

[0035]FIG. 2B illustrates an exemplary system for evaluating recordedinteractions. Interactions may be viewed by any user authorized toaccess, retrieve, and replay contacts, create and review evaluations,and create, retrieve and analyze reports. Evaluations may be performedby an evaluation engine included in the server 200 or a separate server.Supervisors may review evaluations via stations 305 that may beconnected, e.g., via the Intranet, to the server 200. These stations maybe similar to those 300. Recorded interactions may also be posted to theIntranet site to be replayed using a multimedia player, such asMicrosoft® Window Media™ or RealNetwork® RealPlayer®.

[0036] Contacts may also be exported to non-system users, with propersecurity. The contact content may be converted, e.g., into audio videointerleaved (AVI) media files for this purpose and distributed via,e.g., e-mail.

[0037] An events list may be stored and retrieved for each contact,allowing the entire flow of the interaction to be followed. The entirecontact may be reviewed, or only specific segments of the interactionmay be reviewed. Contact events include, for example, transfers,agent-initiated monitoring, hold times (recording activity from theCSR's perspective), annotations, conferences (including all parties onthe call), etc.

[0038] Notes may be added by voice or text annotations to any recordedcustomer contact. The annotation may be made public or kept private foronly the creator or designated users to access.

[0039] For telephone exchanges, voice conversations between agents andcustomers are combined with the keystrokes and data being input into theagent's desktop (screen capture). By uniting these two components,contact center supervisors may replay recorded interactions asynchronized format.

[0040] For e-mail exchanges, specified contacts may be recorded andevaluated. This may be integrated with leading e-mail response mangementapplications. Also, web and collaborative chat interactions may berecorded and analyzed. This ensures that the customer receives thehighest quality response.

[0041] Evaluations may be stored in a database, e.g., the database 230or a separate database.

[0042] After evaluations are complete, the data is fed to the analyticengine and combined with other disparate data from the contact center tocreate a repository of data that is used to measure and analyze theoverall performance of the enterprise.

[0043]FIG. 2C illustrates an exemplary system for multi-dimensionalanalysis. Data from throughout the contact center is combined, accessed,and explored to pinpoint the relationship between various metrics (suchas ACD, predictive dialing, workforce management, evaluations, training,customer satisfaction, customer relationship management (CRM), etc.).Another example is the effect call control skills have on average talktime. This provides a better understanding of the effect one performancemetric has on another. These metrics may be specified by the systemowner.

[0044] Referring to FIG. 2C, analysis is performed via an analyticengine that may be included in the server 200 or in a separate server.Center managers and directors perform the analysis via stations 310. Theresults are recorded as interaction attributes in a database, e.g., thedatabase 230 or a separate database.

[0045] Finally, through evaluation and analysis, agent skill set andcompetency deficiencies are identified, and specific training isautomatically assigned and delivered, e.g., to the agent's desktop, viathe learning management component. Thus, according to exemplaryembodiments, identification, scheduling, and delivery of personalizedonline training are provided. Then, the individuals that are assignedtraining may be subsequently scheduled for further recording to ensurethat the learning took place and the entire closed-loop processcontinues.

[0046]FIG. 2D illustrates an exemplary system for delivering trainingaccording to an exemplary embodiment. Agents 300 receive training basedon stored evaluations and course content in a database, such as thedatabase 230. The training is delivered by the learning managementsystem, which may be included in the server 200 or in a separate server.Supervisors may also take part in the training via stations 305.

[0047] According to the invention, advantages include increased customerloyalty and revenue, rapid return on investments, reduced costs. Also,the invention enables communication of vital intelligence across acompany, identification of important trends, and evaluation andoptimization of the performance of people, processes, and technology.

[0048] By recording customer interactions across all media, includingtelephone, email, and web exchanges, evaluating agent performance, andthen using those evaluations to prioritize and deliver targetedtraining, contact centers have an integrated, closed-loop system forcontinuously improving performance in the contact center.

[0049] It should be understood that the foregoing description andaccompanying drawings are by example only. A variety of modificationsare envisioned that do not depart from the scope and spirit of theinvention. The above description is intended by way of example only andis not intended to limit the present invention in any way.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for improving performance of anenterprise including at least one agent that interacts with at least oneuser, the method comprising the steps of: capturing interactions betweenthe agent and the user; recording interactions among the capturedinteractions that satisfy predetermined business criteria; evaluatingthe performance of the agent and the enterprise, based on the recordedinteractions; analyzing other data concerning the agent and theenterprise; and delivering targeted training to the agent based upon theresults of the evaluating and analyzing steps, thereby improving theperformance of the enterprise.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein thestep of recording the selected interactions includes recording only theselected interactions.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step ofrecording the selected interactions includes recording all the capturedinteractions and discarding the interactions that do not satisfypredetermined business criteria.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein thestep of evaluating includes distributing the recorded interactions aredistributed throughout the enterprise for evaluation.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the recorded interactions are distributed outside theenterprise for evaluation.
 6. The method of claim 4, wherein therecorded interactions are distributed to customer service, businessdevelopment, support, and marketing groups within the enterprise forevaluation.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the user is a customer,and the agent is a customer service agent.
 8. The method of claim 1,wherein the recorded interactions include at least one of web, e-mail,telephone, order entry, customer relationship management, customerbusiness applications, voice commerce, kiosk, self-service andinteractive voice response exchanges.
 9. The method of claim 1, whereininteractions that satisfy predetermined business criteria includeinteractions that result in a sale greater than a predetermined numberof dollars or a sale of a particular product, last longer than apredetermined period of time, involve a particular agent, are from aparticular calling party, are to a particular number, or are of apredetermined priority.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein theinteractions that satisfy predetermined business criteria areautomatically recorded.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the agentinitiates recording of the interactions that satisfy predeterminedbusiness criteria.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein a third partyinitiates recording of the interactions that satisfy predeterminedbusiness criteria.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein the other dataanalyzed includes historical and statistical data concerning the agentand the enterprise.
 14. A system for improving performance of anenterprise including at least one agent that interacts with at least oneuser, the system comprising: a recorder for recording capturedinteractions between the agent and the user that satisfy predeterminedbusiness criteria; an evaluator for evaluating performance of the agentand the enterprise based on the recorded interactions; an analyzer foranalyzing other data concerning the agent and the enterprise; and atraining device for delivering targeted training to the agent based uponthe results of the evaluating and analyzing, thereby improving theperformance of the enterprise.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein therecorder records only captured interactions that satisfy thepredetermined business criteria.
 16. The system of claim 14, wherein therecorder records all the captured interactions and discards interactionsthat do not satisfy the predetermined business criteria.
 17. The systemof claim 14, wherein the recorded interactions are distributedthroughout the enterprise for evaluation.
 18. The system of claim 14,wherein the recorded interactions are distributed outside the enterprisefor evaluation.
 19. The system of claim 17, wherein the recordedinteractions are distributed to customer service, business development,support, and marketing groups within the enterprise for evaluation. 20.The system of claim 14, wherein the user is a customer, and the agent isa customer service agent.
 21. The system of claim 14, wherein therecorded interactions include at least one of web, e-mail, telephone,customer relationship management, order entry, customer businessapplications, voice commerce, kiosk, self-service and interactive voiceresponse exchanges.
 22. The system of claim 14, wherein interactionsthat satisfy predetermined business criteria include interactions thatresult in a sale greater than a predetermined number of dollars or asale of a particular product, last longer than a predetermined period oftime, involve a particular agent, are from a particular calling party,are to a particular number, or are of a predetermined priority.
 23. Thesystem of claim 14, wherein the interactions that satisfy predeterminedbusiness criteria are automatically recorded.
 24. The system of claim14, wherein the agent initiates recording of the interactions thatsatisfy predetermined business criteria.
 25. The system of claim 14,wherein a third party initiates recording of the interactions thatsatisfy predetermined business criteria.
 26. The system of claim 14,wherein the other data analyzed includes historical and statistical dataconcerning the agent and the enterprise.